Brush construction



Feb. 9, 1932. v E. NIELSEN 1,844,915

' BRUSH CONSTRUCTION Filed Oct, 51, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet l Feb. 9, 1932. E, NIELSEN 1,844,915

BRUSH CONSTRUCTION Filed Oct, 31, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet'l 2 (2,3/ w@ im@ gwjjtg? Patented Feb. 9, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT y ol-rlclsz` MANUEL NIELSEN, OF `RACINE, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR TO HAMILTON BEACH MFG. CO., j

0F BACZINE, WISCONSIN, A CORPORATION OF WISCONSIN' :BRUSH CONSTRUCTION Application iled October 31, 1928.y Serial No. 316,319.

This invention relates to brush constructions and shown as embodied in a brush of the non-rotatable, self-adjusting or floating type for use with a vacuum cleaner.

The object of the invention is to produce a brush in which the bristles or other surfaceene'agingl means are so arranged that they wi l be very eliicient. for their intended purpose, a brush which will wear longer than brushes now in use and which will enable the vacuum cleaner to `which it is applied to be moved over the surface to be cleaned with greater ease than is possible whenbrushes such as are now available are used.

ByV so arranging the bristles in the brush frame, or so mounting the brush as a whole that the bristles extend at an angle other than the normal to the floor covering, said bristles are more effective for entering the fabric of the carpet when the cleaner is moved in one direction, and thereby the foreign matter is dislodged and, if not at once picked up by the cleaner, it is' gathered into a mass on the carpet ready to be picked up by the suction as the direction of the cleaner is reversed. When the bristles or brushes are `arranged in a conventional, familiar manner, they ride over the foreign matter and cause it to adhere to or become embeddedin the carpet,

and therefore are less efficient for their intended purpose than is the construction kto be described.

o, In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a vacuum cleaner embodying my invention,l the handle and dust bagr being broken away.

l Figure 2 is a front elevation of the brush and part of the nozzle.

Figure 3 is a side elevation of the parts shoWn-inFigure 2, showing the normal position of the brush bristles.

Figure L isa view similar to Figure 3', indicating the position of the brush bristles when the' cleaner is being moved forwardly.

Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 4, but showing the position ot the brush bristles when the movement 1s reversed, that is when `the cleaner is being pulled back toward the operator. n f

Figure 6 1s an enlarged sectional view showing the manner in which the bristles are vmounted in the frame.

Y Figures 7, 9 and 10 show niodiiications of the invention, the nozzle being in side elevation and the brush in section. o

Figure 8 is an enlarged sectional view showing the manner in which the bristles are mounted in the trame of the brush shown in Figure 7. f Y

The following is a general description of nected to said flange 17 by screws 18 is a fan casing 19, so arranged that the fan (not shown) will be in axial alignment with the motor shaft. A suction nozzle 20, terminating in a suction mouth 21, is preferably integral with and extends vforwardly and downwardly from the fan casing 19. The front Wall 22 of the nozzle 2O has an opening therethrough, which is substantially7 in alignment with the axis of the fan, and said opening is normally closed by a removable plate 23. This opening in the wall 22 is pro vided for the purpose of accommodating a coupling (not shown) tor an auxiliary suction tool .vhichmay be connected to a flange on the inner surfacer of the fan casing in such manner that communication between the tan chamber and suction mouth 21 is cut oil, and communication established between the auxiliary tool and said tan chamber. Not being a part of this invention, this auxiliary tool connection to the fan casing need not be described in detail.

The body ot the cleaner is supported at the rear upon roller 24 and near the forward end by a pair of rotatably mounted Wheels 25. A non-rotatable brush 26 is removably mounted externally ot the nozzle 20' by means ota bracket 27. The brush mounting is fully described and shown in` my co-pending application, Serial No. 316,318. A handle 28, r

having biturcated ends or spring arms 29 adapted to engage the sides of the motor housing 15, is removably and pvotally mounted on pins which extend outwardly from the sides of said casing 15. The electric current wire 31 connects the motor with a source of power through an extension cord usually carried on the handle 28. The fan casing 19 has the usual tubular extension 32, to which a dust bag 33 is removably secured.

Referring now more particularly to that part of the construction which it is sought to protect hereby, the brush 26 comprises a rectangularly shaped frame having long bars 34 and connecting side bals 35. The bars 34 are preferably made of wood or other suitable material and the side bars 35 are of metal and are provided with inwardly directed arms for engaging the ends of the bars 34 for connection therewith, as indicated at 36. The brush frame is located externally of the nozzle, slightly above the mouth 21 thereof. The rear bar 34 preferably has connected to it the bracket Q7 by which the brush is removably connected to the nozzle 20.

The bristles 37, or other suitable surfaceengaging means, are preferably mounted in groups in the frame bars 34, to extend downwardly into contact with a surface to be cleaned. The novel feature of one embodiment of my invention, as shown in Figures 1 to 6, inclusive, consists in so mounting the bristles 37 that they will not depend from the frame 34 at right angles to the under surface of said frame, as is customary, but will be inclined with respect to said frame so that the bristles will normally extend downwardly and slightly rearwardly, as indicated in Figures 1, 3 and 6.

To mount the bristles in the desired manner. the bars 34 are provided with recesses 38, and said recesses are inclined, by which is meant that the walls of the recesses are not parallel with the side walls of the bars 34. As shown, the recesses extend upwardly from the bottom surfaces of the ba rs 34. and slightly forwardly, so that the bristles mounted therein will extend downwardly and slightly rearwardly. The lower ends 39 are cut after the bristles have been mounted so that all the ends are in a plane parallel to the plane of the under surface of the bars 34. The enlarged view (Figure 6) shows more clearly the need for cutting the lower ends of the bristles after they are fastened in the frame, not only to make them uniform, but to provide extra length for the more rearwardly located bristles of each group, whichv are longer than the forwardly positioned bristles when n'leasured from the under surface of the frame to their respective lower ends. That is, the line 40 is longer than the line 41, but the result is that all the bristles 37 terminate in one horizontal plane.

When so arranged, the bristles 37 intimately engage the fabric of the carpet when the cleaner is moved rearwardly and facilitate the removal of the dislodged foreign matter during the forward movement.

One advantage of this construction is that, when the device is pushed forwardly by the operator, as shown in Figure 4, there is not as much resistance to the movement as there is when the cleaner is being pulled backwardly toward the operator, as shown in Figure 5. This is of value for the reason that in machines having brushes meeting the floor at right angles it is easier for the operator to pull the cleaner backwardly than to push it forwardly, and, therefore, the brush construction here disclosed more nearly equalizes the effort required to operate the device. However, the bristles could be arranged in the frame to extend downwardly and forwardly, and the results as to eiicient cleaning would be the same as'if arranged downwardly and rearwardly.

The results produced by the construction described could also be attained by using a brush, such as shown in Figure 10, having the bristles extending from the frame 34 in the usual manner, that is, substantially vertically downwardly from the frame, and mounting the brush as a whole on the cleaner at an inclination with respect to the surface to be cleaned. Such an arrangement would require the bristles 42 of the rear bar 34 to be longer than the bristles 43 of the front bar 34. v

Referring now to the modifications shown in Figures 7 and 8, it will be noted that the bristles are given an inclination relative t0 the surface to be operated upon, by a modified construction in which the bristles 44 are mounted in the bars 34 in a conventional manner, but the bars 34 are slightly tipped and connected together by specially shaped side brackets 45 instead of by straight bars 35 heretofore described. The brackets 45 are substantially U-shaped in horizontal section, the inwardly extending arms 46 being firmly secured to the bars 34.

In Figure 9 the construction is similar to that of Figure 7 but the arrangement is reversed, in that the bars 34 are tilted in the opposite direction and the bristles 47 extend downwardly and forwardly from the frame. The bars are connected by the twisted bracket 48, having arms 49, similar in function to the bracket 45. The constructions shown in Fi gures 7 and 9 function efficiently as heretofore described, differing from each other in that in one the intimate contact between bristles and carpet occurs in the rearward movement of the cleaner and in the other, in the forward movement.

Obviously, changes in details of construction may be made without departing from the scope of my invention, and I do not intend to be limited to the prec-ise form shown and described, except as pointed out in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

l. A vacuum cleaner including a suction nozzle having an elongated mouth extending transversely of the cleanerand a non-rotatable brush mounted on the nozzle parallel with the mouth of the nozzle, said brush comprising a frame, and groups of bristles mounted in the frame, the bristles of each group extending at an inclined angle to the surface to be cleaned and adapted to enter the fabric of the surfaceto be cleaned at an acute angle when the cleaner is move-din one direction, and to move easilyv over said surface when the cleaner is moved in the opposite direction, the lower ends of the bristles being cut away so as to terminate in a plane parallel with the surface to be cleaned.

2. A vacuum cleaner including a suction nozzle and a non-rotatable brush mounted on the nozzle parallel with the mouth of the nozzle, said brush comprising a horizontally disposed frame apertured to receive bristles,I

the apertures extending inwardly from the lower surface of the frame at an inclined angle and bristles mounted in said apertures and depending from the frame at an inclined angle and adapted to enter the fabric of the surface to be cleaned at an acute angle when the cleaner is moved in one direction, and to move easily over said surface when the cleaner is moved in the opposite direction, the lower ends of the bristles being cut so as to terminate in aplane parallel with the surface to be cleaned.

In testimony, that I claim the foregoing as my sole invention, I affix my signature, this 22nd day of October, 1928.

EMANUEL NIELSEN. 

